God’s Tenth 


REV. A. J- GORDON, D. D. 





N touching the question of giving, we 
eT touch the most vital point pertaining 

to the consecration and spiritual power 
of the Church. In saying this we 

speak from experience, as we certainly 
speak according to Scripture. ‘Bring ye all the 
tithes into the storehouse, * * * and prove 
me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I 
will not open the windows of heaven, and 
pour you out a blessing that there shall not be 
room enough to receive it.” Here plainly the 
giving of tithes is made the condition of an 
abundant outpouring of the Spirit. The 
spiritualizing method of interpreting Scripture, 
which robs us of so much vital truth by 
frittering away its meaning in metaphor and 
simile, has often robbed us of the real signi- 
ficance of this text. Prayer, testimony, effort, 
self-denial—how often do we hear these duties 
mentioned as summing up and fulfilling the re- 
quirements of tithes! 

But “tithes” means money or other property 
of equivalent value; and the effusion of God’s 
Spirit is here made contingent upon bringing in 
these tithes and paying up these dues to God. 
A tenth of his income was required of the Jew 


[1] 


997028 


to be set apart and sacredly devoted to God’s 
treasury. And this was the first tenth, and not 
the last tenth; the first fruits and not dregs 
and leavings. And while the amount is not 
specified in the New Testament, the same 
principle is carried over: “Upon the first day 
of the week, let every one of you lay by him in | 
store as God hath prospered him” (I Cor. 
xvi. 2). Here is consecrated giving—laying by 
in store—a certain sum set apart and made 
sacred to God’s use, and which thereafter one 
should no more think of using for himself 
than he would think of taking the same sum 
from his neighbor’s pocket. And here is 
proportionate giving—“as God hath prospered 
him.” 

Ought the proportion to be any less under 
the gospel than under the law? Surely not, 
when we remember that we have as our ex- 
emplar One who, “though he was rich, yet for 
our sakes became poor, that we, through his 
poverty, might be rich;” and that we have the 
precept of this exemplar, which no ingenuity 
can explain away: “Whosoever he be of you 
that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be 
my disciple.” In the light of such high stand- 
ards, who can say that at least we ought not 
to give one-tenth of our income to the Lord? 
If any Christian who has never tried it will 
make the experiment, conscientiously following 
it through to the end, in prosperity and adver- 
sity, we predict for him two surprises: first, he 
will be astonished at the increased amount 
which he is enabled by this method to give to 
the Lord; and secondly, he will be astonished 
at the increased spiritual and temporal pros- 
perity which the Lord will give to him. For 


[2] 


Southern Pamphlets 
Rare Book Collection 


observe that here is an instance where the 
Lord actually makes a challenge to his people, 
and sets up a test case, saying, “Prove me 
now.” Taking this Scripture in connection with 
others, we find that there are two points to 
be demonstrated. 


1. That faithful and proportionate giving 
will be rewarded with superabundant spiritual 
blessing. The statement does not require 
proof, since experience has stamped it already 
as an axiom. Other things being equal, that 
Christian who opens the broadest outlet for 
charity will find the widest inlet for the Spirit. 
The health of a human body depends upon 
its exhalations as well as upon its inhala- 
tions. It is reported that a boy who was to 
personate a shining cherub in a play, on being 
covered over with a coating of gold leaf, which 
entirely closed the pores of his skin, died in 
consequence, before relief could be afforded. 
Woe to the Christian who gets so gold-leafed 
over with his wealth that the pores of his 
sympathy are shut, and the outgoings of his 
charity are restrained! He is thenceforth 
dead spiritually, though he may have a name 
to live. 

2. That faithful and proportionate giving will 
be rewarded with abundant temporal pros- 
perity. This is a saying hard to be received, 
but it has the emphatic support of Scripture. 
“Honor the Lord with thy substance and with 
the first fruits of all thine increase; so shall 
thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses 
shall burst out with new wine” (Prov. iii. 9, 10). 
This is but one specimen of many from the 
Old Testament. “Give, and it shall be given 
unto you; good measure, pressed down and 


[3] 


shaken together, and running over, shall men 
give unto your bosom” (Luke vi. 38). Do we 
believe these words of our Lord? and can we 
question that they refer to abundant temporal 
returns in recompense for abundant giving? 

There is a Christian league in this country 
banded together to promote systematic giving. 
It brings every member into convenant to keep 
a strict account with the Lord, and to render 
him one-tenth of the income. An annual re- 
port is made by each member, giving a state- 
ment of his business and spiritual prosperity. 
The secretary recently told us that the results 
have been surprising, even to the most 
sanguine advocates of the tithing system; that 
not only has the income of the missicnary 
societies receiving the funds been greatly in- 
creased, but that, out of thousands entering 
into this league, all but two or three have re- 
ported greatly increased business prosperity. 
Are there not some things to be proved which 
we have not yet dreamed of either in our 
philosophy or our mathematics? 


Foreign Mission Board, 
Southern Baptist Convention, 
Richmond, Va, 


[4] 


